dissabte, 29 de març de 2014

The Royal Navy's newest submarine - a miniature sub which can launch underwater that James Bond would be proud of, has been spotted moored off of Gibraltar.

The
submarine is intended to launch underwater in order to carry commandos
to their destinations covertly so they can perform attacks or
infiltration near the water.

Attached
to a large nuclear sub, the mini pod can carry up to around eight elite
commandos in heavy assault gear and is designed to be as stealthy as
possible.

The pod can be seen attached to the topside of the nuclear submarine, the HMS Astute, currently off the coast of Gibraltar.

n a covert attack, the secret
submarine pod will detach from the HMS Astute and head to its
destination, absorbing sonar on the way to evade detection.

The
pod will be in use by Special Boat Service commandos in their covert
operations, and the miniature submarine will likely make their
activities hard to predict or anticipate.

Before it was mounted to the top of
the HMS Astute, the miniature submarine had to be airlifted by
helicopter to seas near its destination, before being picked up later.

Now
the submarine will move closer to the destination, and plans for
deployment and support for the commandos will be more readily available.

The miniature
submarine, codenamed 'Project Chalfont', has been tested since it was
installed in 2012, but this is the first time it will reach active
service.

The HMS Astute is the largest attack submarine the Royal Navy has at its disposal, and is the lead ship of its class.Thanks
to air recycling it could theoretically circumnavigate the planet
without having to resurface, and its nuclear power system means it will
never have to refuel again during its 25-year-service.However, its limit is that it is only able to carry three months worth of food for the 98 crew needed to man it. The
miniature submarine's main duties are for counter intelligence, as it
allows for incredibly covert ops from discreet locations, and will now
be able to deploy while hidden underwater, rather than having to travel
by helicopter, which runs the risk of revealing its position.

dilluns, 10 de març de 2014

Back in November, Hainan Province issued new maritime regulations,
including an article stating that “foreigners or foreign fishing ships
entering sea areas administered by Hainan and engaged in fishery
production or fishery resource surveys should receive approval from
relevant departments of the State Council.” As many, including “Naval
Diplomat” James Holmes,
pointed out, this provision would apply to over half of the South China
Sea. However, experts wondered if China would be willing or able to
enforce the regulation. M Taylor Fravel, writing for The Diplomat,
noted that the new regulations had no information on how the provision
would be enforced. “The sheer size of the waters nominally under
Hainan’s administration indicates that actual implementation of these
new rules would be a daunting operational task,” Fravel wrote.

Now, the question of whether these rules are being enforced seems to have been answered. Reuters reports
that Hainan Party Secretary Luo Baoming said that authorities based on
Sansha city have been regularly confronting unauthorized foreign fishing
vessels. It’s apparently quite a common occurrence: “There’s something
like this happening if not every day then at least once a week,” Luo
said.

Luo also stressed that “the majority [of such incidents] are dealt
with by negotiating and persuasion.” “We negotiate and dissuade as much
as possible,” Luo said, although from his comments it seems the
“negotiation” is actually an order. Authorities “tell them [unauthorized
vessels] to get out, this is our area,” according to Luo.

Sansha city, a prefecture of Hainan province, administers several
groups of disputed islands, including the Paracels (where Sansha is
located), the Macclesfield Bank, and the Spratlys. Beijing established
Sansha as a prefecture in July 2012, in what many saw as an attempt to increase de facto control over these disputed areas. Chinese officials agreed—Hainan’s Party Secretary said at the time that
Sansha city would be “an important base to safeguard China’s
sovereignty and serve marine resource development.” China has also
established a military base on Sansha, and stationed a 5,000 ton patrol ship on the island.

Luo Baoming’s remarks confirm that Sansha is being used as a base to
drive foreign fishing boats away from waters claimed by China. The
fishing boats in question most likely originate from Vietnam and the
Philippines, as the Paracels are claimed by both China and Vietnam and
various islands in the Spratlys group are claimed by China, Vietnam, and
the Philippines. Taiwan also claims these territories, and has rejected Hainan’s fishing regulations.

The Chief of Staff of the Philippines Arms Forces claimed recently that Chinese Coast Guard ships used water cannons
to drive Philippine fishing vessels away from the Scarborough Shoal.
The Scarborough Shoal is not under Sansha’s administration, and it’s
unclear whether Sansha authorities have used similarly aggressive
tactics to force foreign vessels to leave. But given the unease caused
by the mere announcement of Hainan’s new fishing regulations,
confirmation that the provisions are being enforced is likely to stir up
more tensions.

dijous, 6 de març de 2014

Armed marines in body armour patrol the deck, mattresses are piled over railings to frustrate grappling hooks, and firehoses dangle at the ready.

With gangplanks pulled up, the only way the crew can receive gifts of cigarettes and tea from family and friends is via a makeshift pulley system running from the stern to the quayside.

Like their army and airforce colleagues on shore, the sailors on board the Slavutych and the corvette Ternopyl, both moored at the Ukrainian base in Sevastopol harbour, have for nearly a week been locked in a strange battle of nerves with surrounding Russian troops.

But judging by the Ukrainian navy's latest public statement, the crews don't find being blockaded by Russian troops and ships half as irritating as Moscow's refusal to admit what is happening.

After Vladimir Putin insisted in a press conference on Tuesday that the "men in green" who have occupied Crimea are local self defence forces, the navy fired an answering volley, "Based on [yesterday's press conference], we feel qualified to accused the President of the Russian Federation of blatant lies," the Ukrainian Navy wrote in an official announcement released on Wednesday.

"The warships Ternopyl and Slavutych, in Sevastopol bay, are currently blockaded by vessels of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, in each of which are marine units amounting to one platoon armed with automatic weapons and the corresponding kit."

"Given Mr Putin's remark that such uniforms and equipment can be purchased at any shop, we would like to take this opportunity to ask exactly which shops, and also where in violation of Ukrainian law you can also buy automatic weapons, combat pistols, and grenade launchers," the statement read.

It is the very question most journalists in Crimea have given up any hope of hearing a logical answer to.

While there are civilian pro-Russian "self defence" units in Crimea, they are generally dressed in either mixed army-surplus camouflage or simply tracksuits or jeans. The nearest they come to an actual armed force are the rag-tag Cossack units guarding the entrance to the peninsula.

They are light years from the highly disciplined, professional soldiers dressed in recent issue Russian field uniforms, driving Russian Tigr armoured jeeps, and carrying Russian weapons who have fanned out across Crimea since last Thursday.

Crimean civilians, whether pro or anti the occupation, have no doubts about the provenance of the men in green.

Ukrainian commanders who have negotiated with their unexpected guests have described how occupation force commanders introduced themselves as officers of the Russian military.

And as the occupation drags on, even the troops on the ground are struggling to maintain the pretence that their political masters in Moscow insist on maintaining.

On Saturday the soldier commanding a squad of men outside a Ukrainian navy installation in Simferopol identified himself to the Telegraph as a member of the 810th marine infantry brigade, the unit that has guarded Russia's Black Sea Fleet base since the 1960s.

Since then, journalists from Ukrainian and foreign media, including the Guardian and the BBC, have had numerous similar conversations with Russian troops who identified themselves as such.

On Wednesday a Ukrainian journalist managed to provoke a Russian officer in Kerch into an interview in which he said "we're Russian. We're here so there aren't terrorist attacks."

But for some reason, the official line from Moscow remains that there are no Russian troops in Crimea - or that if there are, they are simply regular Black Sea Fleet forces as agreed by treaty with Ukraine.

Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, has gone so far as to claim Moscow has no authority over the "self defence" units.

"Its complete nonsense," Sergei Shoigu, Russia's respected defence minister, said when his turn to utter the strange denial came round on Wednesday.

Russia's RT television network even broadcast a segment denouncing "mainstream media" hysteria about the invasion.

"The western media has been flooded with reports going so far as to suggest that Russia has invaded Ukraine," the presenter intoned solemnly during the piece.

The Russian troops watching over the Slavutych from a nearby cliff top on Wednesday were more disciplined than some of their other colleagues, keeping themselves to a stoic "no comment," in Russian and English when asked about their job.

"We'll take your photo though," they said, producing their own camera phones, apparently fed up of being on the receiving end of photography.

When the Telegraph volunteered correspondent's name and publication to caption the image, they said they didn't need it. "We're in the loop," they said, knowingly.

The Indian Navy's third Saryu-class naval offshore patrol vessel (NOPV), INS Sumedha, will be commissioned on 7 March 2014 at Goa shipyard (GSL).
Built by Goa Shipyard, the 105m-long offshore patrol vessel was delivered to the Indian Navy in January 2014 during a ceremony held in Goa.
GSL chairman and managing director Rear Admiral Shekhar Mital said that the ship is the result of many years of in-house design development and ship build techniques.
"The commissioning of this ship, marks a significant milestone in GSL's & nation's march towards indigenisation and self reliance," Mital said.
"It becomes more important as Sumedha is 200th ship indigenously built by GSL."
Designed for monitoring sea lines of communication, defence of offshore oil installations and other critical offshore national assets, the vessel can be deployed for escorting high value ships and fleet support operations.
"The vessel can be deployed for escorting high value ships and fleet support operations."
Capable of conducting ocean surveillance and surface warfare operations to prevent infiltration and transgression of maritime sovereignty, the 2,300t Saryu-class vessel can cruise at speeds in excess of 25km using two KOEL/Pielstick Diesel engines and have a range of 6,000nm.

The warship can also conduct ocean surveillance and surface warfare operations to prevent infiltration and transgression of maritime sovereignty while helping to meet the increasing requirement of the Indian Navy.

The Indian Navy has taken delivery of the first two Saryu-class vessels INS Saryu and Sunayna from GSL on 21 December 2012 and 02 September 2013 respectively.

Meanwhile, the GSL-built Shore Based Test Facility (SBTF), designed for landing trials of the MIG 29K & LCA at INS Hansa is also ready for commissioning.

diumenge, 2 de març de 2014

Admiral
Denis Berezovsky, appointed as head of Ukraine's Navy forces just two
days ago, has sworn allegiance to the people of Crimea. Taking his oath,
regional Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov announced creating Crimea's
Navy.

Denis Berezovsky was shown on Russian television
swearing allegiance to the pro-Russian regional leaders of Crimea.
Russian forces have seized the Black Sea peninsula and told Ukrainian
forces there to give up their weapons.

"During the
blockade by Russian forces of the central headquarters of the navy, he
declined to offer resistance and laid down his weapons," said Viktoria
Syumar, deputy secretary of Ukraine's Security Council.

"The
prosecutor's office has opened a criminal case against Denis Berezovsky
under statute 111: state treason," she said. Another admiral, Serhiy
Hayduk, was placed in charge of the navy.

Commander
of the Ukrainian Naval Forces Denis Berezovsky said Sunday that swore
allegiance to the Crimean people. Earlier it was reported that
Crimea-stationed Ukrainian troops have switched sides to join forces
with local pro-Russia authorities in the Russian-dominated autonomous
republic of Crimea. Allegedly the transition was peaceful and without a
single shot being fired.

"I, Denis Berezovsky, swear
allegiance to the people of Crimea and undertake to protect them, as
required by statute," Berezovsky said at a press conference in
Sevastopol.

Crimea-stationed
Ukrainian troops have switched sides to join forces with local
pro-Russia authorities in the Russian-dominated autonomous republic of
Crimea, a source in the region’s administration has said.

The source has stressed the transition was peaceful and without a single shot being fired.

Some
of the servicemen reportedly left their posts without prior warning,
while others surrendedered letters of resignation but the majority went
over to the Crimean government.

According to the source, all troops will soon be sworn in by the authority of the Crimean republic.

The
Ukrainian military serving in Crimea-deployed units are joining local
self-defence forces, the ITAR-TASS correspondent reports from Crimea.
Many servicemen, disagreeing with Kiev's policy, are leaving their units
and tendering their resignation. Some units have said they will take
orders only from the command of Crimea's self-defence forces, the
eyewitness says.

Crimea,
an autonomous republic within Ukraine, is now at the center of the
ongoing crisis in the country as pro-Russia groups move to distance
themselves from the newly formed formed national parliament that ousted
President Viktor Yanukovych a week ago.

The
current development comes shortly after Russia's upper house of
parliament unanimously approved a request from President Vladimir Putin
on Saturday to deploy military forces in Ukraine's mainly ethnic
Russian-populated region of Crimea.

Putin
issued his request in response to what he said was a threat to the
lives of Russian citizens and military forces in naval bases in Crimea.

Putin,
who is the Supreme Commander of the Russian Armed Forces, has not yet
ordered the deployment of a "limited military contingent" in Ukraine,
but said in telephone conversations with UN Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon and US President Barack Obama early on Sunday that Moscow
reserved the right to protect its own interests and those of Russian
speakers in the event of violence breaking out in eastern Ukraine and
Crimea.

There
is already a substantial Russian military presence in southern Ukraine,
courtesy of the leased Black Sea Fleet naval base on the Crimean
Peninsula.

Large
movements of Russian troops have been reported around the peninsula,
which is in defiance of express instructions from Ukrainian authorities
this week for Russian soldiers to remain confined to their quarters.

Meanwhile,
thousands of pro-Moscow protesters staged a number of rallies in
eastern Ukraine on Saturday backing the anti-Kiev stance of the Crimean
population and calling for Russia to defend them as well.

New
authorities in Kiev have already responded to Russia's plans by putting
the army on high alert and calling up all military reserves.

Kiev
also appealed to NATO on Saturday, with a request to, "consider all
options to defend the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine".

The
North Atlantic Council, NATO's main governing body, is scheduled to
hold an extraordinary meeting on Sunday to discuss events in Ukraine,
the military bloc's secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said in
his Twitter blog.

Russian
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev had a telephone conversation with his
Ukrainian counterpart Arseniy Yatsenyuk on Saturday during which he
expressed his interest in preserving stable and friendly relations with
Ukraine, the Russian government press service says.

"However,
it was noted that the Russian side reserves the right to protect the
lawful interests of citizens and servicemen deployed in the territory
the Autonomous Republic of Crimea," the press service said. Russian
armed forces "in case of need have the right to act in the framework of
the mandate issued by the Federation Council to the president," Medvedev
said.

"Also
during the conversation Medvedev pointed to the possible responsibility
of Ukrainian officials, if they make unlawful decisions on the use of
force against Russian citizens," the press service said.